The Last Bonaire Brain Coral

Good morning all, you can ask any seasoned diver who has been to Bonaire or the Caribbean in the past 10 years “what did you think about the reef on your last dive” and they will all say, “it’s not the same reef as we remember”. Due to years of massive tropical storms, overfishing, dragging nets and anchors, trash and runoff from shore our poor coral reefs are disappearing right before our very eyes and there is little we can do to stop it. On my last trip to Bonaire a few weeks ago I spent more time underwater shooting dying or dead corals than I did photographing fish or coral reef scenes, I must say it’s very alarming. I found colony after colony of wiped out endangered Staghorn coral and only a few brain corals like this one in the shallows, 14 years ago they were quite abundant. 

Divers and Giant Sea Fan

Good morning one and all, how was your Christmas??? Ours was fantastic! Aimee had to work Christmas day but I took our guests on a morning and night dive plus we did all kinds of other fun activities in between. Since last thursday afternoon I have pretty much been diving with our two guests Karen and Alan non stop and it has been a blast!!  NEWER POST:

Meet the People Who are Rebuilding the Reefs

From the boat, there’s nothing remarkable about the place — just choppy water and a white mooring ball, a few miles offshore. But once we’re underwater, I can see the rows and rows of PVC trees, suspended above the sand in a grid that stretches away into the distant murk. This is a coral nursery. Each tree bears a ripening crop of a hundred or more pieces of coral. The smallest fragments are pinkie-sized, twirling on their tethers as other divers kick by; the largest hang like many-limbed chandeliers, turning slowly in the current. When I get closer, I can see the individual polyps, the anemone-like creatures that make up each fragmented colony. Nestled in the crenellated openings in their solid skeletons, they